Life and art were born together, in a difficult environment, where they survived the hunger and harshness of the post-war period to the beat of the seguiriya, soleá, the cantiña or the tarantos. Learning to dance before taking their first steps, the legend is forged Jose Losada Santiago, Malaga reel, the man whom the greatest nicknamed "the monster" and who now, without nostalgia and firmly, leads us From El Perchel to Teatro Real.
El Carrete is one of those self-made flamingos. Born in Antequera, in the bosom of a family of transhumant gypsies, on an imprecise date (1941), since only his baptism certificate is preserved, takes his stage name from his mother's nickname, which they called La Carreta. of his early years, marked by hunger, life on the street and the search for the remains of the crops on the roads and paths, the dancer remembers: "My mother threw the wheat on the road and told me 'Come on, Carretillo, dance.'. And I danced on the wheat. I was the era on the road. That I still have the spikes stuck in my feet and the rhythm got into my head”.
After passing through the reformatory, from which he escapes to continue dancing, is discovered by El Niño de Almería, that takes him to those first tablaos in Torremolinos in the years 50 Y 60, where he meets great artists (Farruco, Antonio or Carmen Amaya) from which he learns by looking, and dance for movie stars (Anthony Quinn, Brigitte Bardot o Sean Connery) and at jet set parties on the Costa del Sol.
This novel story is built with an intuitive dance artist who develops a unique technique, debugged, with an overwhelming personality and a diabolical footwork that is difficult to imitate, with rudeness that surprise and snatch. Not in vain, greats of flamenco like Camarón -who traveled to La Línea to see dance “to the monster”, what was he called- or Paco de Lucía –who played the guitar for him and asked him to “Carrete, read me the Bible”-, to mention just a few, they consider him a teacher of teachers.
The next 21 of July, to 19.00 hours, with a show called De El Perchel al Teatro Real, will perform in the Dance Hall of the Madrid Coliseum accompanied by louis chicano in the dance, Joni Jimenez, to the guitar, and Mary Mix, in cante.
With this unique performance, Flamenco Real will close a season in which dancing has had space, the playing and singing of consecrated figures, and emerging values, that already make us dream of the programming that will return in the fall.
Malaga reel © Paco Lobato